Fantastic Cheers Sam .

A bit late perhaps, but here is my contribution to the topic of tremolo for your comments. This Granaina falseta starts with Juan Martin and ends with Sabicas.



Flamencoblues

You play that very well. I can play the Juan Martin bit you started with fairly well, but haven't learned the Sabicas portion.

This is my simple soleá tremolo contribution played this morning on my '72 Contreras negra. The music is traditional and was played by many artists one time or another, not only in soleá, but also in other flamenco palos.

'72 Contreras Negra Tremolo.mp3


Rather than post tabs here as text, I wrote the music in Guitar Pro which is not only easier, but produces both standard notation and tabs in several output formats, including pdf. This is a pdf file you can display on the screen or print if you don't already know the music.


Notes that are to be accented are marked with a > symbol. Notes that are to be heavily-accented are marked with a ^ symbol. I played the music before writing it and didn't accent the notes that way, but they should be accented as shown to be consistent with normal soleá compás.

-Bob

Wow, Bob!
That's a superclean execution. Also, your guitar sounds beautiful! Currently, I don't have the knowledge or equipment to produce good-sounding videos and don't know how to create tabs, but I will look into "Guitar Pro".

Saludos

Flamencoblues

Flamencoblues wrote:Wow, Bob!

Thanks for your comment.

Flamencoblues wrote:... your guitar sounds beautiful!

I play my Contreras less than my other flamenco guitars, but it sounds especially nice playing something like the tremolo example where the long bass-note sustain of a negra keeps the bass notes ringing.

Flamencoblues wrote: ... I will look into "Guitar Pro".

I highly recommend Guitar Pro where someone's music composition interest is limited primarily to guitar music. However without any doubt, Sibelius is the software to have instead if someone has a serious interest in professional music composition.

The two software packages are significantly different, even though their guitar music composition capabilities overlap. Either program can be used to write standard music notation and tabs for guitar. Either program will play computer-generated guitar-playing emulations of written music.

Guitar Pro is inexpensive, considering the considerable scope of its capabilities. It also is very to use, even though it probably will seem complicated to someone looking at it for the first time. Don't let that first impression discourage you from learning to use it. Half a day spent reading the help and experimenting with it will pay rich future guitar-playing rewards.

Sibelius is far more expensive and there are many expensive optional add-on modules that can make it even more expensive. Sibelius also is far more difficult to learn to use. The initial learning curve is especially steep, but, like with most things, becomes easier after someone learns the fundamentals. Despite all that, nearly all professionally-written music of all kinds is written with Sibelius these days, including everything ranging from jingles used in commercials, to popular music, to movie soundtracks, to major compositions for symphony orchestras. It would be nearly impossible to find employment as a music composer these days without solid knowledge of, and practical experience using, Sibelius. Sibelius data files are the standard way music is exchanged worldwide between composers, producers and others in the music industry.

Even though both programs can emulate guitar playing, Sibelius can simultaneously emulate large combinations of almost any music instruments. If most people were to listen to symphonic music emulated by Sibelius they would swear they were listening to a recording of a real symphony orchestra. That is one of many reasons Sibelius is so popular with composers. Mozart and all the other great composers of the past had imagine what their combined scores were going sound like as they composed parts for each instrument. It is incredible that they were able to do that so well. Modern composers don't have to imagine. They can instantly hear the effect of each change they make and experimentally tweak anything and everything as they listen to almost exactly what their compositions will sound like when played by high-priced talent.

As great as Sibelius is for those who need its capabilities, Guitar Pro is the software most guitar players and guitar music composers should have, because it far less expensive, far easier to use, and does almost everything guitar players and guitar music composers could want. (One possible exception is the ability to scan-in and digitize printed sheet music which can be done by means of a Sibelius add-on module. That capability makes it easy to scan-in and then modify flamenco tabs from a tutorial rather than having to manually enter everything from scratch. However, for the combined price of Sibelius and the add-on module you could instead hire a beautiful human assistant to do that for you!)

-Bob

FB, Your tremolo is very nice and I enjoyed your Granaina very much. Haven't attempted a Granaina since the 70's. Had a good tremolo both classical and flamenco in those days, but 25 years of no playing and damaged hands took care of that. Something that I can never get very smooth and flowing anymore except for a short time. I practice a short falseta of tremolo in my 6 minute Solea and that is about it.

Bob, Your tremolo is also very good as is your rasqueados. Enjoyed the clip and wanted to hear more. The old Contreras is sounding great. Wonder if PDL ever regrets letting you take this one.

Manos Lentas wrote:The old Contreras is sounding great. Wonder if PDL ever regrets letting you take this one.

He probably has been through so many guitars since then that he doesn't remember it.

An interesting characteristic of that guitar is that recordings always sound better than the guitar sounds to me while I am playing it. That is the primary reason I don't play it more often.

-Bob

Bob, Thank you for your detailed comments/information. I definitely would like to hear/see more of your playing and guitar.
Sam, Thank you, too, for your comment. I am sorry to hear about the problems you have with your fingers. I sincerely hope you will always find a way to express yourself in your music.

Regards,
Flamencoblues

Bob, What you say about the Contreras is much like my 74 negra was. It sounded great on recordings, but not as good playing it. I think it was from being over finished. Since removing the top finish and thinning the top, it sounds better playing it than on the recording. I think it is because I can now feel the response. I also took some off the neck thickness and that really helps playability. Hope to get the string spacing corrected this week and refine the action. The nut is a little high. Eventually I will take off all the varnish and get it french polished. I found since just thinning the top I play on it a couple times a week for palos not requiring a golpeador or ones I can remember to leave the golpes out.

FB, About 6 years ago I started trying to find my style of playing that worked with my hand problems. I have found it now but still cannot play very clean. I play for my own amusement so it is not a major issue. The thing that is a bit of a worry is focal hand dystonia. Some days my hands cannot remember how to play a simple falseta that I have played a thousand times and practiced the day before. http://www.dystonia-foundation.org/page ... nia/57.php

Manos Lentas wrote:Bob, What you say about the Contreras is much like my 74 negra was. It sounded great on recordings, but not as good playing it. I think it was from being over finished. Since removing the top finish and thinning the top, it sounds better playing it than on the recording. I think it is because I can now feel the response.

I think you may be right about heavy finish and a thick top degrading the way a guitar sounds to a player. My Tsiorba and Ramirez are both lighter and more delicate than most flamenco guitars. Of the two, my Tsiorba sounds best to me while I am playing it. However, when I record them, they sound surprisingly similar. The Tsiorba has a faster attack-time and more flamenco growl on bass notes, but they are both superb guitars. I have played Ramirez flamencos that sound terrible in comparison to mine, so a Ramirez label obviously doesn't guarantee an outstanding instrument. If I hadn't played mine and a couple other good ones I would have an entirely different impression, but the good ones are indeed quite good. Of course, there is no reason anymore to buy a Ramirez, now that Tsiorba's are available.

I generally prefer light-weight guitars, because I think they sound better overall for most types of flamenco, they are more comfortable to hold, and to me, they seem like "real musical instruments" in comparison to heavy guitars. However, there is a lot to be said for having several with different characteristics, because switching between them can be a pleasant change.

-Bob